Very rarely do I enjoy a “Friend Of The Devil” but this one is the best I have heard. Phil and Bob are bonkers on this one.

If you attend the show, you would know... Yellow Light was in effect....Had just come from Dinosaurs show in SLC a day prior and was gifted the yellow light from the roadies working the show in the middle of the Great Salt Lake.. the Hokey Pokey was the message... portal was open...if you know you know...

7 Of 11 Reviews On This Show Are Negative To This Date. Let Me Try To Help Even The Forces By Rating This One As One Of The Best Of The Extended Summer Tour Of '83.
Two Strong Shows.On Either End Of The Tour. Both In Outside Venues. In Saratoga Springs,N.Y. And This One At The Nevada County Fairgrounds,Seem To Be Played With A Plan To Go Loud,Loose And Slow And Try Some New Jams. In Both Shows Nearly Every Song Is Given A Bit Of Different Instrumentation. Phil's Bass Setting A Low Booming Walking Tone That Sounded Like Low Looping Thunder. Most Of The Songs Stretched Out To Much Longer Then Others Of The Same Times. I Think More That This Was A Conscious Choice. Not A "Tired" Or "Boring." "Struggle" Of A Show. Despite The Time In History When Jerry Started Showing Signs Of His Illness. ThIs One Crackles With Experimentation, Mistakes And All. This Is The Kind Of Playing So Many Of Us Miss From Earlier Days. Wanting The Riffs To Go On A Just Little Longer, A Little Different. Something Special. So What If They Run Into A Dead End Or Two. Everybody's Contributing. !
Brent's Filling All The Spaces. The Rhythm Section Laying Down That Lope. Bobby's Slicing Some Amazing Rhythm. Jerry's Giving Us Some Soaring Leads,Remapping His Usual Runs. It May Be Sloppy,But It's New. Mistakes Are What Make The Grateful Dead. Jerry Said, "We're Getting Really Good At Making Mistakes". Good Enough For Me. No Negative Waves Moriarty. Fore Always B. Grateful.

I didn't hate it like everyone else did.

This is the first show I have felt like they just didn't have it. My fav, Wharf Rat, was pretty hard to get through, and the intro to Around and Around was a struggle. Is it possible...the boys get tired every now and again?

Sedula notwithstanding, I have to say that when Jerry gets really strung out around this time the rest of the band is toast anyway.
However, Terrapin is solid and apropos.

this kid sedula is dfunny - that "greatest" ever was Garcia. It is stunning how sdtupid kids are these days about the dead. Totally clueless beyond belief. Like DFonna Sucked I was at this show, not one of the better one;s form '83 for sure but some decent moments such as Otehr One.

I saw around 330 shows starting in '72, saw maybe 35-45 with K&D then was on the road a lot early/mid-'80's when they ere really kicking a*s before all the stadiums and stupid kids and in the dark, etc.

I was at this show and it was a dog. Saw about 40 shows in '83 and this was easily one of the worst. I see no reason to spend any time on it at all. So much more to choose from in that year, especially the tour right before these shows. Hult, Boise come to mind quickly. Had a great time on that '83 mountain/northwest tour.

Hey Sedula I heard you did suck on slide, did you acutally quit? And I don't remember ever seeing Weir play slide on stage until around 1979 or '80, maybe even '81..Garcia handled all the early slide work so there's your "best ever". Did you ever actually see the band or are you one of those recording-only reviewers?

Someone below said: "I dislike the fact that Minglewood is turned into a clinic on how not to play slide guitar."

THANK YOU!! There are other people (perhaps guitarists like me) who thought Weir's slide playing was one of the single worst things I ever seen at a live performance. How he could repeatably do it was beyond me. If I were that bad on slide I would quit. I guess he figured idiots would cheer him no matter what!

Rating couldn't be lower, but it is for Weir's slide guitar. Back in '69-'74 I thought Weir was one of the best rhythm guitarists ever. From the mid 80s until now his tone has got too caustic and the whammy bar has ruined many a show!

If I remember, this was a daytime show right?

Can't say I was a Deadhead at the time but I'd seen them a couple of other times including a double bill with Cream. Resisted for years but now I'm absorbed. Beautiful venue, lawn, surrounded by giant pine trees, nice day, blue sky and a few fluffy clouds. Anchor steam on tap. Lots of vendors. Good feelings rampant. I'll second TimePilots assessment, plus I got the distinct impression Jerry was feeling it during the second set. I understood why people are obsessed by the magic. Not having much experience I'll say 4 stars. Sometimes I like stuff hard core heads don't like. Like the Welnick/Hornsby Dick Pick.

enjoyed the Terrapin, decent Bucket, but the Drums>Space seemed awful long, and the show had sections that really dragged

i would love a copy of that video.
lemmeknow?!

This Let it Grow is definitely in the top 3 (Phil bass line is killer). The jam out of space>other one is simply amazing. I have a decent AUD video of this show. Second set is close to the stage and you can plainly see that Weir is totally going off (or getting off) during this other one jam...intense. One of the top 5 83 shows? Probably. If I could, I would give it 4.5 stars, but I can't so I'll round up.

Must've been a gas to see the Dead at a county fairgrounds.
This is a pleasant, solidly played show with good sound.
It falls short of the magic 'X factor,' but it's still good listening, and might win over people (like me) who had written 1983-86 off.
I love Lesh's rubbery low-end bass, but I dislike the fact that Minglewood is turned into a clinic on how not to play slide guitar.
There are lots of Dead shows better than this, but this doesn't disappoint -- just a nice night out at the fair!

Very solid show despite the mundane setlist.